Brief Introduction to the Universiade
The leading institution of the Universiade is the International University Sports Federation (FISU) with headquarters in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. The current chairman is American George E. Killian.
The tenet of FISU is: friendship, fraternity, fair-play, perseverance, integrity, co-operation and application The Universiade is a comprehensive sports event set up by FISU. It aims to promote the overall development of the university sports in all countries, boost the moral and physical education of global university students, and enhance the friendship among students in the world.
The Universiade is staged every two years in a different city, and consists of the Summer Universiade and the Winter Universiade. It is second in importance only to the Olympic Games, so it is nicknamed “Small Olympics”. It faces to at-school university students and those having graduated for less than two years (limited to students of 17-28 years old).
The Universiade originated to the Student World Championships (held thrice in summer and five times in winter) in 1924. It was changed into the International University Games (held for five times) in 1930, and was renamed as the International University Sports Week (held for four times) in 1949. Finally, in 1959, it was officially named as the Universiade, and was held for 24 times till now. The 25th Summer Universiade will be held in Belgrade in 2009.
The Winter International University Games started in 1928 (held for six times), and was renamed as the Winter International University Sports Week (held for five times) in 1951. It was officially changed into the Winter Universiade in 1960. The 24th Winter Universiade will be held in Harbin China in 2009.
The officially regulated sports events in the Universiade include track and field, basketball, fencing, football, gymnastics (eurythmics and artistic gymnastics), aquatics (swimming, diving and water polo), tennis, volleyball, judo, and ping-pong. But the host country is entitled to add three optional events.
Beijing China has successfully bidden for and held the 21st Summer Universiade in 2001. Harbin has won the host right for the 24th Winter Universiade in 2009. Besides, Shenzhen will hold the 26th Summer Universiade in 2011.